Tombstone Tuesday – James E Richmond

Growing up, we always heard stories of Uncle Jimmy. He was my maternal Grandpa’s younger brother. Uncle Jimmy was in the service and when he would visit the family in West Virginia, he would come and spend time with his big brother Bill and his family. My Grandma would tell us stories about how when he arrived she would offer to make him a sandwich, and he would ask for 6 bologna sandwiches. He would eat all of them.
I do not know really much about Uncle Jimmy, except for that he was loved by his family. Uncle Jimmy died at the age of 19 in a terrible car accident.

Here are clips from a newspaper article that my Grandmother kept, I do not know what paper it came out of at this point.

Cemetery Photo

Inscription reads:

James E Richmond

West Virginia

AN

US Navy

February 9 1938

May 10 1957

We visited West Virginia in 2004 for a Hilton Family Reunion. I refused to leave the state before we found the cemetery where Uncle Jimmy was buried. Grandma could not remember the name of the cemetery it was at, she new it has something to do with the American Legion. A phone call to the American Legion helped. They gave us directions to their office and then a nice gentleman came outside and directed us the balance of the way. Though I never met Uncle Jimmy, I stood graveside with tears running down my face, thinking of a life cut short and how his family must have felt. I know for my Mom, she still cannot listen to TAPS because it reminds her of his services.

Comments

Trackbacks

[…] Mar 1922 in Raleigh County, WV. They had 5 children together. William H Jr, Reba, Maxine, Jean and James. In the 1950′s William and Edith relocated from WV to IL and stayed there until the death of […]